How to Care for Soccer Jerseys

Soccer jerseys can be purchased separately, and are also part of official team wear. It is important to preserve them because team jerseys are often not replaceable midseason, and because jerseys can be expensive.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Follow laundering instructions. Don't take liberties with these directions.

2. Check hang tags before discarding. Special care instructions and/or explanations are often on these tags.

3. Care for jerseys promptly. Do not leave wet or dirty jerseys in soccer or gym bags, where smells and stains can develop.

4. Launder promptly. Don't allow mud or stains to set.

5. Pretreat troublesome spots. In order to ensure their removal, try a homemade technique: Use baking soda or plain seltzer.

6. Turn jerseys inside out before laundering in order to protect monogrammed names or numbers and logos.

7. Save on ironing: Although care labels give ironing directions, promptly hung jerseys will not wrinkle.

8. Stay away from ironing designs. Although most care labels point this out, it is important to emphasize.

Tips & Warnings

• Shop about two months before the start of the soccer season, when stores are well-stocked with the best merchandise.

• Buy from a sports specialty store with knowledgeable salespeople.

• Consider hand-laundering. Jerseys are easy to wash, and hand-washing may help preserve their materials.

• Presoak in cold water. This is an option to ensure stains don't set.

• Line dry to be safe. Although many laundry directions say "tumble dry low," some do not. Soccer jerseys are quick drying, making line drying convenient.

• Write the player's name in permanent ink on the inside tag to guard against loss or confusion with another player's jersey.

• Look into sharing goalkeeper jerseys. These long-sleeved shirts, usually worn over other clothing, are very expensive. Beginning goalkeepers often share them with others, or wear hand-me-downs.